One way this reveals itself as a disadvantage is when you have actually been successful. The relaxing of your desire i.e. goals around weight loss and the tasks or focus required to achieve the original goal, often means a return to the exact behavior which caused the problem in the first place, such as lack of exercise or  poor diet and food consumption habits.

It is likely that you have lost weight successfully before. Often times it is a lack of ability to continue the behavior which caused the weight loss which triggers the return of excess weight. To use a trivial example, say your house is generally comfortable but messy. Your mother-in-law is coming and you want to make a good impression so a spring clean is underway. You could even say to yourself as you appreciate how nice it feels to be in a cleaned house with the sunshine and flowers creating a cozy effect: ‘This is the way I want it to be always.’  Yet with the mother-in-law gone (and she lives far away) and the kids come home and don’t understand your new desire for order and cleanliness, soon you’ve forgotten you had any other goal then to tidy up for a particular occasion.The same applies to diet and exercise aimed at one goal-weight loss- without embedding the desire into your lifestyle.

Walking for weight  loss and activity for its own sake adds value to your life in many ways. Eating in filling yet healthy ways also adds to a sense of caring and looking after ourselves and our bodies which also feels good.

Counting calories or pedometer steps are ways to systematize a balanced diet and regular exercise into your lifestyle. Walking to lose weight is a lifestyle choice which lends itself to activity as a matter of course. While other  exercise options are still necessary because variety is important, the advantage of walking is its ability to fit into most lifestyles with ease, and making it easy is instrumental to weight loss success.

Walking to lose weight becomes an attitude pervasive enough that once established it has its own  momentum and replaces the need to consciously choose to diet or exercise.

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The number one complaint of those who are willing but unable to exercise is because it is hard to fit into the busy day.

Walking for weight loss can be done in a  number of ways:

take a 10 to 20 minute walk once or twice each day;

take a longer walk of at least one hour, once, twice or three times a week;

count pedometer steps.

Each will appeal or be successful because of the circumstances and preferences of your life.

The ritual of a regular, preferably daily walking schedule can contribute to its’ success but the two or three times a week ritual can also work.

Walking for weight loss becomes  familiar and benefits many people who can fit a walk to work or walk after school, into their lifestyle. It is less easy for those with more stressful routines which generally means a lack of regular commitments which allow planning. For these people the flexibility of counting pedometer steps becomes a real advantage.

Couple this with the established incentive of having a target against which to challenge yourself.

Many programs aimed at increasing exercise or walking for weight loss include a pedometer as the main weight loss tool.

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Well it is…but there is a difficulty in measuring techniques and self measuring especially. How accurate are your measurements?

A good policy is to get someone else preferably a professional who has been trained but a girl friend (or wife) would do, to take the measurements. As this can be embarrassing this may not be your preferred option. If so do it yourself but be sure that you know exactly where you are measuring and repeat it at least one time to check the result. I do the bust or nipple line, under the bust (bra line), the waist at its smallest, hips (largest point), upper thigh and lower thigh (just above the knee) and the arm between the shoulder and elbow.

Obviously give yourself some time walking for weight loss before checking to see how many inches (!) you have lost. How long to leave depends on the frequency and type of exercise. My old routine was to leave it for 10 days of 10,000 steps before checking. Counting pedometer steps is one of the easiest ways to lose weight.

The type of exercise will also affect where you see the results.

Even though we are told that spot reduction doesn’t work and loss depends upon overall body fat reduction, if you measure you will find definite differences in the rates of loss. Weight training is great at sculpting the more difficult body parts. Walking to lose weight particularly walking up hills, naturally tightens thighs and bottom. The top half of the body can be neglected when walking for weight loss so it helps to add arm movements perhaps using hand weights during your walking routine.

We all know about buying jeans or some other item of clothing “hoping” that they will be an incentive for weight loss. How often does that work?

But I do recommend purchasing or finding a piece of clothing which is just too tight. It needn’t be expensive and may not even be something you want to wear but it can act as a demonstration of weight loss. It needs to not do up or strain across buttons etc. then take a photo. Over time check on the fit and notice where your measurements have changed. If necessary look at the photo to reassure yourself that it does now fit better. If certain parts are not reducing at the required rate then take specific action for that area.

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Walking to lose weight can become a part of participant’s lifestyle however to do it successfully your lifestyle must adapt. The type of walking must be what suits you and over time this will probably alter as you move through a series of life changes.

Setting up your own business can also require a major lifestyle change.  It may happen gradually, but eventually it changes your life. Keeping in balance during this process is a major benefit.

This is why I am a fan of one hour walking. If I am feeling anxious or annoyed about a work-related issue, have been stymied in some way from direct action, awaiting resolution of a problem, etc. then a walk often lifts me totally-creates an inspired solution, calms me or creates new ideas, enough to re-focus and bring renewed creative energy and success-thinking to what I am doing. In a new home-based business some activities are less diverting than others and often the support of colleagues is not there in the same way as within an organisation, where it can be taken for granted. Or some aspects of your business through confidentiality or technicality, are best left unshared.

Even with weight loss there is division over whether walking alone or with others is best. Much research supports both arguments but successful long term losers tend to do it alone. The focus and commitment is theirs. Supplement it with others but remember where the responsibility lies. See the benefits of walking for weight loss as also benefiting your business in direct ways: That solution that came during your walking for weight loss; The even tone you can maintain as stress levels decrease.

Focus on your business but walk for one hour and you are soon weighing less and working better. One hour of dedicated walking is 6,000 steps extra added to that day. Anyone targeting 10,000 steps daily, can appreciate how much this contributes towards that goal. Yesterday was my regular shopping, bank, pay bills, day and combined with the one hour walk I did over 17,000 steps. The day before was less active although I prudently put in a few extra steps when I could, and with the one hour walk, did 11,000.

I have gradually built up walking to lose weight to one hour on most days. Occasionally there may be reasons why this slips, either deliberately or not, such as sickness, but this one hour is bringing a lot into my lifestyle and I miss it if I’m not doing it. However just adding in a one hour daily walk is not an overnight accomplishment for most people. It requires changes in discipline.  It requires ensuring that it adds value to your day.

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Walking to lose weight can be a group activity or a social bonding opportunity but that does restrict your options when busy. Of course it is not an either/or situation and one of the beauties of walking as a weight loss lifestyle option is its versatility. It can be social or competitive, intense or leisurely.

Generally it can be undertaken spontaneously so it lends itself very well to an ongoing campaign for health and weight loss. It has been found that men respond well to the use of pedometers which can add an element of challenge to walking to lose weight. The daily step total becomes a target to beat. Even young boys given pedometers have been found to respond positively to this aspect.

An active commute program where participants walked or cycled to work had a positive response from men and the average  five miles distance to their employer’s premises was effective exercise. But not so for the women involved.

Women use the pedometer and daily 10,000 steps often, from what I have seen on the many walking to lose weight forums etc., but respond differently to the use of these tools. It is another task to be done but does not have as much incentive. Initially walking as a social opportunity often appeals to women and this can be very attractive and effective as an incentive to walk more often particularly daily.

Busy lives require organisation and a social obligation can be a significant influence in performance. Frequently on a weekend walk I am delighted to see many walkers taking a scenic route which I do myself if I can. Lots of people are fitness walkers which can be determined by the demeanor and pace.

This is one of the reasons walking for weight loss alone can be the best way to go. You are in control of the intended duration, speed and location. The lifestyle change needs to be under your control. Doing it alone enables that more easily. It can’t be postponed or canceled as with a social commitment. Over time, walking for weight loss becomes a vehicle for other opportunities such as group walks and family entertainment. As you become more involved in doing it, find the best routes, fun alternatives, get results and look good, others may want to join in.

Build a list of favourite walks. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas and if in the end, they’re not for you, so what?

Often in a busy day the time to go for a walk can be flexible when you only have yourself to consider.

Even though ongoing walking for weight loss success is probably better as an independent activity there are many ways walking with others is a great way to keep a fitness or weight loss program fun and motivating. Family walks, walking to the restaurant, golf, etc.

A pedometer is a great personal tool which enables self responsibility for effective weight loss through walking. It has been the biggest asset on my weight loss journey since I started using it routinely in September 2008.

An advantage of counting steps is the ability to see how the day is going. Although I like to use a weekly count, on a given day if I have been at my desk without moving for several hours, it is quite possible to do only 3,000 steps. This rarely happens any more now that I wear a pedometer and know how to bring up the steps. On those occasions though, doing a little bit more around the house is not likely to have much effect on the exercise level for the day, so a long walk is mandatory.

This is something I can do with pleasure because I know that the time is not wasted. Listening to work related podcasts or inspirational information. Planning. Take the quiet time for reflection. Consciously review with a broader perspective not possible during the detail of day to day. Think out an issue.

A one hour walk is about 6,000 steps. On the other hand an easier option when working from home is to do a Walk Away the Pounds DVD. The 3 miles session takes 48 minutes and is 5,500 steps. Of course it is a lot harder than taking a walk because of the arm and leg movements and use of the weights, however ignore these and it is good brisk walk.

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Others are puzzled by the popularity of walking as a weight loss strategy. Some do it and question its success. Also starting a walking to lose weight program, if you do it around others, can attract lots of attention. There are many options for walking whether inside or outside, or doing it alone or with friends or a group. Look at Walk Away the Pounds as a less public alternative to walking in a gym.

It’s simple with this basic understanding:

What is required of you when walking to lose weight is relative to the activity already existing in your life.

1. If you are already active and then start following recommended walking times you will find little response. This is natural because you may not be adding much, if anything, into your active life -perhaps even doing less than normal. Or you might be adding to your eating allowing the exercise to stimulate your appetite and then rewarding yourself with food or drink. The purpose of additional exercise is to create a calorie deficit, stimulate your metabolism, divert the mind, increase well being, and improve sleep. All these things and others combine synergistically to enhance weight loss.

2. If you haven’t been particularly active before but focus on the specific time requirements or distance recommended, and then stop for the rest of the day, you may not be adding to your exercise at all; if you stop other exercise when adopting a weight loss routine it has to be because the amount of exercise you’ve added more than substitutes for your normal activity.

However if you are frail, underweight or under-exercised to extreme weakness, the only way forward is to build up your muscle strength before taking on extensive walking.

A couch potato who adds in a 10 minute walk morning and evening will respond well to wearing a pedometer all day, finding out what is their normal daily step count and being motivated in bringing them up to the 10,000 recommended daily steps for weight loss. Any significant increase in walking for this person is likely to lose weight.

However, an active person may not find adding walking has an effect on weight loss. Normally though, an additional one hour daily walking will cause weight loss.

Generally diet modification is also necessary for weight loss. Think about what you are eating. Instead of mindlessly looking for what appeals right now, consider the impact on you real goal, to lose weight. Being a little bit hungry is all right. Eat wisely if still hungry and always drink water before you are thirsty. I.e. consciously drink water or diet drinks, after you have exercised, increasing the amount depending upon the temperature of your body, and the weather.

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So a weight loss process requires a lifetime commitment to diet and exercise. This is also why we at Walking to Lose Weight prefer a weight loss approach which is easiest to maintain and is flexible enough to incorporate variety, any number of others, diverse interests.

This is really about activity.

There are 2 basic options. Create specific exercise opportunities such as brisk walking; and increase your activity choices in daily life.

Option one is to take a walk every day preferably of over 20 minutes duration because 150 minutes brisk (break out in a light sweat or do 3,000 steps in 30 minutes) walking in a week will result in some weight loss. For a quicker weight loss 250 minutes weekly is required. I find that to fit in a walk of 60 minutes daily which is the time frame this requires takes some adjustment. Knowing that it also is required to be a new lifestyle means I want to find a way which will enable me to incorporate it into my daily life with pleasure. So rushing in to 60 minutes walking daily and maintaining it over the long term, may not be easy for you, whereas adding in extra physical activity or a 20 minute walk may be more so. As you become willing and dedicated to finding the time for successful weight loss the opportunities present themselves and you make the choices which lead to this new slim life.

There also is the option of walking in private, at home, and the bad weather alternative of using walking dvds or a treadmill.

The latter exercise option of increasing physical movement through daily tasks is most effective if you have been sedentary. In this case any conscious choices to walk further or do more bending and lifting or jogging around the house, will have an effect. The only way to really know the number of steps you are doing is to use a pedometer.

When I started using a pedometer I was astonished at how few steps I did in normal day. Then I increased these by going to the mail box several times a day to check for mail instead of once only when I knew the mail had been delivered, choosing to go to the Ladies which was furtherest away at the shopping centre, taking several trips to the car to deposit groceries rather than use a trolley.

The object is to increase your daily step total to an active lifestyle level which requires a minimum of 8,000 and for weight loss at least 10,000 steps each day.

Some activities result in a disappointing response on the pedometer such as weight lifting so stick mainly to activity which has enough movement to register a correct number of steps. When naturally added activity from your housework, shopping and playing with the kids, doesn’t add up to the 10,000 required, add in dedicated walks. This has a dramatic impact on the steps walked in a day.

This is called walking to lose weight.

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Sometimes when coming across an article or blog which really fits within my own walking to lose weight attitude to successful weight loss it becomes a great opportunity to improve what I’m doing. I like the idea behind this research: find out what is successful (or not) for a lot of people (over 22,000). Even with the normal biases from self-responding survey results this is impressive because we can think about what a large number of people have found effective and ineffective in weight control.

Most of what appears in my blog is based on my personal weight issues and success or failures. This stems from decades of frustration with an incomplete approach for what is a lifestyle choice rather than a one-off treatment.

My issues, in hindsight and summary form, have been:

poor eating habits
no exercise habit
situational eating.

What I want now is to use all that I now know to create an easy, healthy lifestyle where weight is not an issue, and my life is active because I want it to be.

Back to some of the findings from the Consumer Reports survey. I agree from personal experience with their findings that you need to get back up each time you “fail”,  it takes more than one go to lose weight. For the other keys to weight loss, and this may relate back to the first point, that more than one effort to lose weight is necessary, there are levels at which certain “rules” apply. Some of the stricter requirements are too “heavy” for beginner losers who are not mentally prepared for the discipline and positive attitude required for continued success.

Dieting and Exercise are Both Necessary: I agree with this. It produces a quicker and more attractive result.

However for those with low current exercise levels particularly through illness, long term or disability from overweight, weight loss can start from increasing movement without adjusting diet at first. It is better to moderate what you eat, get into walking and move through any difficulties you encounter initially, and then add stricter calorie monitoring. Calorie intake needs adjustment as your body weight decreases also because a lighter load uses less calories to move around. At the same time muscle maintenance uses more calories than fat so this lower calorie usage may not be as important if only a little weight needs to be lost in the first place. This is part of why you have to be prepared to fail and start over if you can’t take on all the necessary changes at once i.e. making time for exercise, doing it, shopping differently, preparing food instead of eating take away, solving problems as they arise, etc.

Self-Monitor:

I prefer keeping track of my exercise program e.g. pedometer or minutes/distance etc., and to keep noticing how clothes fit better etc. than to constantly weigh myself…except when I’m on target (i.e. I am the weight/size I want) when regular weight checks remind me if I start to stray.

Today after hopping on my Wii Fit to check my weight it confirmed what I had suspected: weight gain of 0.7 kgs! Of course I knew that I had been allowing myself some additional treats over Easter and doing less distance in my walking, consequently I’m not disappointed but I’m not happy. I now need to get back into my regular routine of counting steps and make good choices. And the scales help focus that intention.

But again if I’m in the beginning stages weight measurement can be misleading or de-motivating, when the results aren’t what you want or expected to see.

Use new information to revise some aspects of your weight loss program if it seems like a good idea.

My decision: I’m quitting my gym and using the various tools and walking to lose weight routines I’ve already put in place, to bolster my program.

Why? The gym has been my fall back position. Whenever I feel frustration I want to charge in to the gym and do some dynamite exercise to quickly lose inches. It has been useful but I wonder if my other resources are enough. There are other options to gym-style resources or walking dvds at home and through casual attendance at other exercise classes.

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Take yesterday for me. It started with early shopping, which is fun because with shopping list in hand, away I go and the coast is clear for some intensive trolley pushing and walking. So at the end of the grocery run, I had been away 50 minutes, driven to a new but more distant supermarket with wider aisles and fewer people, and almost no waiting at the checkout, lugged groceries inside and put them away, all for a total of 1630 steps!

If you remember the new definition of “moderate exercise” is 3,000 steps in 30 minutes. Of my 50 minutes only 30 would have been actually active so I was walking about half the pace I would have been doing if I was specifically walking to lose weight.

Then cooking a roast lunch for family, including clearing up a broken glass which had shattered and gone everywhere requiring me to drag out the vacuum as well as sweep and wash the kitchen floor. Crawled around on the floor to store various boxes under other boxes, and away from sight. Etc.

You get the idea, this was a day that didn’t stop yet still was less than the 10,000 steps recommended for weight loss. For most people who are not naturally active, a 3,000 step walk is required to bring their daily total up to 10,000 steps on otherwise normally active days.

Sometimes with the best of intentions a few days like this join up and you fear the downward spiral which can occur when circumstances combine with disappointment to result in weight gain. It hasn’t happened but the anticipation causes your motivation to slip. Without conscious thought at this point you may allow negativity to pull you off the walking to lose weight track.

Consciously acknowledging the potential problem allows your natural solution-finder to come up with options for getting through this.

Think of ways to support walking to lose weight in other ways:

1. With an active life our bodies require fuel to keep going effectively and this means balanced eating. Unexpected inactivity when we are used to eating to keep energised for a high energy daily routine can unbalance the calorie burning versus intake relationship. Remember to look to portion control and less calorie intake.

2. If the situation seems a little out of your control, look at your options: do what exercise you can, any sort of activity is better than none.

3. Keep your motivation high by accepting that ups and downs are normal not cause for alarm.

4. Think about your current priorities: are they in conflict? If so, what can you do to change that? This may mean a change of location such as doing walking on a treadmill at home, for instance.

5. Eat less!

6. Contribute in other ways to ongoing weight loss by finding a new article or website with alternative weight loss suggestions, talk to friends for encouragement, clear out an area for storing the various accessories to a walking to lose weight lifestyle, such as high calorie burn walking dvds and weights, exercise mat, etc. In other words use this time when you are focussed mentally on weight loss to prepare for an improved or even accelerated experience for when you get a chance to jump back into it full time.

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One reason for choosing the Sydney Harbour Bridge is as an easy introduction to the idea and exercise behind using virtual opportunities as stimulation for your imagination and walking to lose weight.

The actual climb takes about 3.5 hours and doesn’t require fitness so much as health as the many steps, walking on narrow walkways between and climbing in all weather (although you’re unlikely to find it snowing in Sydney) as well as the horrendous safety gear make the whole thing a mental challenge- the total distance is 1.74 kms of slow climbing never ending stairs. The attraction of the climb is that all the way to the top you get stunning views.

Virtual Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb

Preparation:

Click here to see some details of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Check out the safety requirements and suit up here.

Climb:

Plan to do 2.5 kms in stair steps. This requires something like 3125 – 4000 steps, taking about 45 – 55 minutes.

The idea is to do this by focusing on the stair climbing. Firstly find some stairs which lend themselves to this exercise – office building stairwell, car park, entries to buildings, etc. or use an exercise DVD which you can do with a step, or requires high knee and leg moves. The local railway station here has multiple steep staircases and is perfect for this exercise. The point is to do the number of required steps so if this is high impact movement for you take your time or split it up over 2 separate exercise days. The local step class at the gym would see you do this in one class. This is not about the time it takes to do but doing the real steps. Of course if this is a breeze to do, it can be intensified by restricting the time taken to do it.

Reward:

Go to the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb site and click where it says Panoramic View from Bridge. Enjoy the view.

Each week in February Walking to Lose Weight is creating some virtual walks which are interesting and fun to think about and do. Wonderful real world events exist which you can participate in or treat as virtual (which many people do) and in the same way you can make up your own. Choose a way of exercising and walking for weight loss which sparks some incentive for you to get up and walk every day. Build in to the activity the option of ‘doing’ it as in going outside and walking, or ‘faking’ it by walking inside on a treadmill or in front of the TV or a DVD. Remember – as you are using your imagination, the details don’t need to be exactly right.

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